Conventionally, the manufacture of the block and bleed valve, is well known however there is always pressure with regard to the design of the same to ensure that the dimensions of the valve, and in particular, the length of the same, meet International standards.
The applicant has a series of granted patents and co pending patent applications which address this issue and further prior art documents are known such as, EP1322886, which also attempt to address the dimensional challenges, with varying degrees of success.
The applicant has identified that for certain requirements the prior art valve assemblies do not provide a satisfactory solution.
The aim of the present invention is therefore to provide a new form of valve assembly which allows the same to fulfil the requirements for International standards while, at the same time, take into account commercial and manufacturing considerations.